Artist of the Week

Artist: James KeirleArtform: Composer, Conductor And Trombonist

What do you do and what are your main focuses?I am a composer, conductor and trombonist. My music has always been driven by communication, probably fuelled by my love of loads of different kinds of music. The way you coordinate in a small jazz ensemble is so different to conducting a symphony orchestra or improvising with someone. These are the differences that inspire me and my music. Are performers coordinating in metred time? Are they just entering proportionally? Are the players coordinating at all? Are performers improvising and if so, to what extent? I use all these resources to challenge performers to communicate in new ways with one another. The results are often intimate pieces that vary wildly in aesthetic and I hope listeners learn as much about the performers as they do me. Where have you studied?​I recently completed my Masters in Composition from the University of Manchester, where I also took my undergraduate in Music.

Tell us about 'Not on the List'.​‘Not on the List’ is the short opera I composed responding to a commission from the Manchester Contemporary Youth Opera Company. This recording is from the dress rehearsal before its first performance in September 2017. It has since seen a repeat performance generously given by the Manchester University Music Society this February. ​‘Not on the List’ depicts the harrowing experience of arriving at a refugee camp and the hopes, fears and day-to-day lives of its occupants. The libretto is taken from my interviews with friends who are refugees and two things became very important; that this performance did not depict a specific nationality of refugee and that it was not an inherently sad story. Many refugees I spoke to were tired of artworks depicting their suffering to the point of de-humanization so my piece, while emotionally provocative, shows the hopes and dreams of the camp occupants. Making the music ‘culturally neutral’ was a significant challenge. I ended up blending melodies, techniques and textures from numerous musical traditions to convey this. Anyone can be a refugee. The drama itself is split into 4 discreet scenes, however, it is up to the performers to decide which order these appear and how many times they happen. The order and number of repetitions of each scene greatly affects the audience’s relationship with the characters. I hoped that these uncertainties and repetitions conveyed the potent mixture of both fear and monotony which is a strange contradiction unique to camps such as these.

Why do you compose?​Why do I compose? Oh my goodness that’s too existential for me at the moment! No, I just love that feeling when you’ve written down sounds that have never been heard before - its addictive. It almost feels like you’re ‘discovering’ the notes sometimes which is a really good feeling.

Who and what are you influenced by?I could write all day for this. My music is definitely characterized by its variety in aesthetic and sound sources and this has come from listening to loads of different music and from art and architecture and poetry and little bits of everything really. Music-wise I am a huge Sibelius fan -which may surprise some. More recently, definitely Meredith Monk, Maja Ratjke, Kaija Sariaho, Unsuk Chin, Richard Barrett, John Luther Adams – loads more really. Art-wise, I’ve learnt a lot from Sheela Gowda and Isa Genzken recently, I could go on… Jazz! Almost forgot. If those reading this haven’t heard the music of Ambrose Akinmusire or Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society I thoroughly encourage you to do so… Nature also has a big influence on my music. I grew up on Guernsey in the Channel Islands and the regular rhythms of the tide and the wild coastlines have had a big impact on my music and creative process. ​

​What is your favourite instrument to compose for and why?This is a great question but a very hard one. At the moment I’d say the viola. It has enough of the dark sounds of a cello and enough of the brightness of a violin that you can write lots of different things. I also know some great viola players, maybe that’s the only reason. That’s important actually, I definitely write for people rather than instruments, although obviously you must do your research and write well for the instrument…

​Why do you like contemporary art and why do you think contemporary art is important?​We live in an exciting time; the aesthetic boundaries of the 20th century are becoming less and less important and with technology advancing all the time, that promise of hearing something completely new at any new music concert is more and more exciting. It is so crucial that we keep writing, playing and listening to new music, stagnation is the worst enemy of the music industry. (apart from funding…) That next concert you go to might have a melody or gesture in it that changes your perspective on something. You might learn something about the performer you hadn’t known before. By writing and playing and listening to new music, we are committing to learning more about ourselves.

There’s also something unique to music here. Every time you play a Mozart Symphony, you bring it back to life, it becomes contemporary art with each current performer playing it slightly differently to the last performance and each conductor taking a different rubato here or a more aggressive tempo there.

What motivates you?​My relationships with friends and musicians are a big motivation. I want to learn more about them and making music together can tell you things you would never otherwise understand. Nothing motivates me more than writing a piece of music for an ensemble you know very well, it focusses you not just on the instrument but also on the individuals. I’m currently writing a piece for the Guernsey Symphony Orchestra, the first piece I’ve written for orchestra in years. Knowing who is playing this flute part and that timpani part is great and has driven me to find a higher level of detail in all parts and on a larger scale than I had attempted before.

What challenges have you set for yourself?​My big challenge this year was the orchestral piece which I have been working on for 6 months now and is currently at 30 out of 35 minutes (ish) of its complete length. Other than that, I really have to motivate myself to listen to new music every day. I find it quite easy to sit down and write but I set myself weekly challenges to listen to music by this lady or look up scores by this guy.

Have you ever failed at something and what happened as a result? What advice would you give to people as a result of that experience?​I originally wanted to go straight from my undergraduate degree to a conducting Masters. The first year I applied I got nowhere and didn’t really know why. Took me a year to realise that I needed to learn about my own music before leading people in others’ music. I conduct several amateur orchestras in London now and love it, but with conducting, my advice to anyone is not to rush. Learn about your own musicality first, there’s plenty of time to take your conducting training further down the line. Also, conducting courses are very competitive so just take your time and don’t give up after one year! Get some experience and go back.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to become a composer?​Just listen to as much as you can and get your friends to play your music. Meeting the right people is huge in this world so the more gigs you’re at, the more professional rehearsals you sit in on and honestly, I’ve found a lot of work by merely being in the right pub at the right time with the right people… And be prepared to get stuck into all sorts of projects from teaching to transcribing, training amateur ensembles, improvisation nights, anything.